Personal Fitness Professional - September 2008 - (Page 20)

Virtual teams can be created for intra-competition among members or expanded for team-versus-team. You as the trainer should dictate the goals used to track team progress. Examples include total team weight loss, total calories burned and average inches lost. To avoid hours and hours of manually tracking progress, ensure that your virtual team software automatically calculates results. Your client team members should oﬀer online support and tough love to keep each other motivated. A private team webpage with message posting options ensures the members can stay connected. Virtual teams are suitable for nearly all types of clients and training methods. Ramos uses virtual team training successfully with pregnant clients, boot camps and her group trainees. “My pregnant clients like being able to discuss their special challenges with each other privately,” says Ramos. “My point system has turned out to be a lot of fun for them, and they have become rather competitive. I also plan to add prizes to those that earn the most points at the end of the challenge dates.” Audio Casts: a No-brainer With little effort, you can use your computer to record personal messages. Simply upload the message ﬁles to your site. And with the option to download those audio casts to their personal music device, it’s a no-brainer to add these to your arsenal of trainer tools. Imagine your client out for a run while they are listening to you, their personal trainer, sharing motivational words, or picture a client listening to your educational ﬁtness recordings during their morning commute. The Blog Effect Your written voice is also powerful. Browse the Internet, read a magazine or turn on the television, and you’re sure to see a reference to blogging. A blog allows individuals to share a running log of events and personal insights, and there are many ways to incorporate blogs into your business model. Publicly accessible messages posted on your site can help generate website traﬃc and improve your return visitor rate. Give clients their own private online journal so they can post diary entries to examine what is keeping them from their goals. Create a members-only, passwordprotected forum so clients can interact both with you and fellow trainees. Ramos incorporates blogging both through her virtual team feature and in a separate member message forum. “Due to the relationships built online through the forums, I am able to retain clients longer,” Ramos says. “Several of my clients have been with me for quite some time because they consider the other online members part of their family.” Using these tools will distinguish yourself from your competitors by enhancing your clients’ experience. You can be a driving force for them when you are not physically present. Plus, oﬀering such a robust website allows you to successfully expand your business to long-distance online training. You can use separate services like YouTube, MySpace or iTunes, but the most professional approach is giving your clients a single login source through your website, where they access all of these resources. When you are the central repository for all of these resources, clients will view you as their exclusive ﬁtness source. Lynn Bode is founder of the Online Personal Training Association (www.onlinept.org) and president of TrainerForce (www.trainerforce.com), a company that provides comprehensive online personal training software to ﬁtness professionals and health clubs. ● SEPTEMBER2008 · WWW.FIT-PRO.COM 20 http://www.onlinept.org http://www.trainerforce.com http://WWW.FIT-PRO.COM

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Personal Fitness Professional - September 2008

Personal Fitness Professional - September 2008 Contents Letter from the Editor, Writers Adding Pilates and Yoga to Your Clients' Workouts Combating Youth Obesity Prescription for Success NEW! The Balancing Act Technical Necessities Product Profiles Current Controversies Mark Your Calendar Coaching Your Client's Diet Life Coaching 101 Exercise Spotlight Product Profiles New on the Market [Spotlight] Gregg Miehle

Personal Fitness Professional - September 2008

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